related works
In Search of a Prayer : for cello / Micha Hamel
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Cello
Scoring:
vc
Genre:
Opera, musical theatre
Subgenre:
Opera
Scoring:
Brecht: Baritone; Cas: Baritone; Marie: Soprano; Bittersüss; Mezzo-soprano; Mathilde: Alto c.q. Mezzo-soprano.
Ensemble: Piano; Trumpet in C; Clarinet in B-flat; Alto-Saxophone; Percussion; Double-Bass.
Genre:
Opera, musical theatre
Subgenre:
Opera
Scoring:
5soloists JeK 2221 1210 timp 2perc pf str
Genre:
Opera, musical theatre
Subgenre:
Opera
Scoring:
sopr-m recit GK4 2222 2sax 2221 4perc cel el.g hp cemb ham.org pf archiphone str(6.6.4.4.2.)
composition
Requiem : for tenor, actor and ensemble; opus 37 / Micha Hamel
Other authors:
Hamel, Micha
(Composer)
Description:
Dedicated to myself. to the part of me that died.
Fragments are the only forms I trust (Donald Barthelme)
A damn good funeral is still one of our best and cheapest acts of theatre (Gwyn Thomas)
Requiem was composed on the request of Godelieve Schrama, who asked me to write a chamber piece for her and any number of players. It was commissioned by Pierre Audi for the Holland Festival2012. The commission was granted by the Fonds Podiumkunsten.
The Requiem was composed to take place in a special space: the medium sized church "de Duif" in Amsterdam, Netherlands. All registrations for the organ are based on the instru-ment to be found there, which is a romantic organ with three keyboards plus pedals. Also, all the directions for the positions in the space are to be understood to be appropriate and valid for that very space. Might the piece be performed in the future, an other space will surely require new decisions in order to stage it well. The people responsible are kindly asked to find all possible solutions to accomodate it in the most practical manner, though respecting the poetics of the piece.
The score includes only the parts that are composed in the notational sense of the word. During the rehearsals, various improvised fragments have been developed and inserted or superimposed to complete the piece. These fragments are deliberately not written in the score to maintain and reinforce the open character of the piece. For the afterlife of the piece, this is unpractical. since it makes its preservance frail and its identity inexact. if not obscure. This however is to be understood as a metaphor; the piece, like life itself. decomposing after its performance.